Stranded
by chloejrobinson
Summary: What happens Lisbon and Jane get stranded out in the desert with no way to contact the team
1. Stranded

**DISCLAIMER: I obviously don't own The Mentalist, although it'd be pretty cool if I did!**

**STRANDED**

"Oh, come on, Lisbon! Cheer up, it might be fun. Anyway, how bad could it be spending the night with me?" Patrick Jane that that mischievous grin plastered on his face and Lisbon could tell he was up to something. There's nothing like being stranded in in the middle of nowhere with Patrick Jane, she thought. She stormed off, whipping her phone out to try and contact the team.

Lisbon and Jane were stranded in the middle of nowhere, out on a case in the desert with no phone reception and an empty tank of gas. There had been questioning a man in relation to a recent murder and only made it half way back before their car stopped.

Whilst Jane was lounged back in his seat, fully reclined, Lisbon was walking around their immediate location, arm stuck out at full length, waving the phone around trying to find some signal unsuccessfully. "Lisbon. LISBON!" She looked in his direction with an annoyed look on her face as to say _this is your fault, Jane! You wanted to talk to this guy! _"That's not gonna get us anywhere. We're just gonna have to wait it out and hope the guys can trace the car's GPS and find us soon." Jane was searching the back seat now checking what supplies they had "Good thing you though to pack some water before we left" He smiled at her thankfully.

Lisbon walked back towards the car, pocketing her phone and sat back in the drivers' seat of the black company SUV. She had a worried look on her face when she asked "Do you think they'll be able to find us out here, Jane? God knows how long we could be here." Her eyes were wide and she genuinely looked scared at the thought of how long they'd be there. Jane picked up on it and tried to take her mind of it by making light of the situation. Cheeky smile upon his face he said "Well if you're worried about how long we're gonna be here I can think of a few things to pass the time…"

"JANE! No! Besides, how can you be so relaxed? We're out in the desert miles away from anywhere. Nobody even knows we're here!" As to comfort her he put his hand softly on her arm and said quietly "Of course I'm worried, Lisbon but honestly, I have complete faith in the team. When we don't return tonight they'll realise that something's wrong and start looking for us." She knew he was right and her faith in her team began to relax her a little.


	2. Lisbon's Love Life

**Disclaimer: I **_**still**_** don't own The Mentalist, nor do I expect to in the future.**

Over an hour had passed since Jane and Lisbon realised they were stranded out in the desert. It was a hot and humid day, the sun directly above them and they had both freed themselves of their jackets long ago, not that it helped too much.

Lisbon had tried to pass some time by discussing the case but it didn't take long before they had exhausted every possible lead. They were soon back to square one and their trip out in the desert was rendered pointless.

Jane, on the other hand, had much more interesting things to talk about; Lisbon's love life for one. He was prying into any recent dates, or a lack thereof. "So is there any reason why your love life has been so non-existent of late, Lisbon?" She replied with an annoyed look and said "It's none of your damn business, Jane!"

"Ooh, defensive, there is something. This is gonna be fun. You know I love a challenge, Teresa. Hmm…" Lisbon turned in her seat to slap him on his arm to gain his attention; "Seriously, Jane. Come on, knock it off. I'm not getting into this with you." She hated it when his was in this mood. She knew that he could find out anything he liked about her from simply studying her. "Why ever not Lisbon? Got something to hide, dear?" He had that mischievous grin on his face now, he truly loved teasing Lisbon. He actually considered it to be one of his favourite pastimes.

As much as she hated Jane to be in this mood, Lisbon loved the smile he gave when he was up to something. It was a beautiful, unguarded smile. It was a real smile, so many of Jane's smiles were manufactured so Lisbon liked to see him like this, even though it usually meant trouble for her

"No there's nothing to hide. I just hate talking about this with you; I'm like an open book to you and you know enough already." Jane was now studying what it could be that she didn't want him to know. While it's true that Lisbon is an open book to him, sometimes he struggles to figure out what's going on in her head in relation to her love life. Maybe because there's never any action to confirm him theories.

Lisbon was now slouched down in her seat trying, unsuccessfully, to get comfortable. Jane was still sat up straight, ever the image of a gentleman, mulling over the mystery of Lisbon's love life. He turned at the waist to face Lisbon to deliver his theory, "Okay, I think I've got it now. You have a virtually non-existent love life not because you can't get a date, of course you could get a date. Any man would be mad to turn you down. It's non-existent because you're waiting for someone to fill that void. Someone in particular. Someone you love…" He trailed off suddenly realising who that someone might be. _I'm that someone_, he thought. _What do I do? Of course I love her, I always have but she deserves so much more than me. I'm a broken man with a crazy, murderous serial killer on my back. But I love her, would it be so selfish to do this?_

"Jane! You can't seriously think that? That I'm single because I'm saving a place for someone." Her speech caused him to snap out of his thoughts about the two of them together. "Yes. That's exactly what I think." Suddenly, Jane was feeling very brave; he faced Lisbon, looked straight into her emerald green eyes and said, "And I think that that _someone_ is me." Lisbon was horrified to hear this. She thought that she had hidden it so well, she was careful around him to not give anything away and yet he still figured it out. "What?! No, Jane. I do not have feelings for you!" Lisbon was strongly on the defence again which only confirmed it for Jane. She was in love with him. And he was in love with her.

All of a sudden, their being stranded out in the middle of nowhere was not such a problem for Jane. He decided to forget all of the reasons why he shouldn't and took the opportunity of being truly alone with Lisbon to win her over.


	3. Stargazing

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to remind you? Obviously I don't own The Mentalist.**

Lisbon was sulking in her driver's side seat after Jane assessment that she loves him. _He is such an ass! Why can't he ever leave things alone? _Taking a sneaky sideways glance, Jane could tell that she was thinking about what he said but she really didn't look happy, he realised; she had that pouty look on her face.

_Hmm, how do I do this? Not only do I have to win her over, I now have to calm her down first and get her to agree to listen to me._

It was getting dark now, and the air had a chill to it. Lisbon, now calm again, was looking out of the front window, up at the sky. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen the stars so clear. It kinda makes me wish I could tell the constellations apart." She told Jane with a slight laugh. He smiled back, sat up and stepped outside the car. Wondering what he was doing, she joined him and they both ended up laid back against the glass on the hood.

"Ok, Lisbon, it's time for your first astronomy lesson by none other than yours truly, Professor Patrick Jane" He said with a big cheeky grin. She laughed at this but was actually excited at the thought of stargazing with her consultant. She knew he was a smart man but sometimes she wonders how he knows so much. _He's like a human encyclopaedia._

Studying the sky, Jane sat closer to Lisbon ready to point out anything of interest. She was radiating heat and somehow, even after being in the heat of the Californian desert all day, she still smelled subtly of the perfume she put on that morning.

Although she'd never admit it, Lisbon loved being so close to Jane. He had his arm curled around her waist and his side was right up against hers. They couldn't be closer if they tried.

Pointing right above them and slightly to the left he began to tell her about the Sagittarius constellation. "In August, the centre of the Milky Way is located in the direction of Sagittarius, right there." He took her hand and pointed so she knew what to look at. "Depending on the time of year, you can see the different signs of the Zodiac." Lisbon was truly interested in what Jane was telling her. She thought to herself that in other circumstances, this would make a very memorable date. She certainly would remember this night with Patrick Jane for a long time.

Lisbon cozied up against Jane as if it was the most natural thing in the world as he continued to tell her about the stars above them. Stopping for a second to look down at the woman in his arms, he smiled and thought to himself; _this is gonna be easier than I thought._

**AN: So this was supposed to be a long chapter but I kina got side-tracked with the whole stargazing idea. Maybe the next one will be longer. Also, I start my new job on Monday so there may not be an update for a while.**

**Thanks for reading! Reviews would be much appreciated.**


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